Method of simulating nozzle spray interaction with fire, smoke and other aerosols and gases

Abstract

A method is presented for calculating a force to apply to components in a computer simulation to simulate the effect that an extinguishing agent stream (e.g., water or foam from a nozzle) should have on airflow in the vicinity of the stream, thereby affecting the movement of other components of the simulation. The method is designed to work in real-time as part of a virtual reality, augmented reality, or other real-time 3-D graphics simulation. In addition to the preferred embodiment of calculating forces to apply to a fire and smoke plume, the invention also contemplates calculation of a force to apply to aerosols and particles that are not part of a fire and smoke plume.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority of pending Provisional patent application No. 60/189,548 filed Mar. 15, 2000.

[0002] This application is related to pending patent application Ser. No. 09/525,983 filed Mar. 13, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0004] This invention relates to simulating use of nozzle spray to combat hazardous conditions in emergency situations, such as when performing firefighting, with real-time computer graphics, including the use of particle systems.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

[0005] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office records but otherwise reserves all copyright works whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In a simulation, flow from a nozzle should affect airflow in an environment and cause motion of aerosols and gases to be affected. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a firefighter training simulation, extinguishing agent flow from a nozzle should affect the path of a fire and smoke plume. This invention simulates such an effect with considerably less computational cost than a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, allowing for real-time simulation. This invention also applies to graphical components other than fire and smoke, including ambient steam, ambient smoke, visible fumes, invisible fumes, and other aerosols, gases, and particulate matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1 is a diagram indicating a nozzle, extinguishing agent stream, and fire and smoke plume.

[0008] FIG. 2 is a diagram is a variant of FIG. 1 where the extinguishing agent stream is modeled to have multiple cone layers to represent multiple velocities in the profile of the stream.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] FIG. 1 represents the preferred embodiment of a real-time graphical simulation of an extinguishing agent 1 (e.g., water or foam) exiting a nozzle 2 in the vicinity of a fire and smoke plume 3. If the extinguishing agent, fire, and smoke plume are modeled as particle systems, each extinguishing agent, fire, or smoke particle will have a mass and a velocity associated with it. Using a scale factor based on distance, a force on the fire and smoke particles can be calculated from the speed and direction of extinguishing agent particles. To model the effect, an equation of the form (other actual forms are envisioned, but they will mainly show similar characteristics): 1 PV Out = PV In + ( ExtAV - PV In 1 + R ) * K

[0010] can be made, where:

[0011] PV.sub.out is the velocity (3-D vector) of the smoke and fire particles after the force is applied

[0012] PV.sub.in is the velocity (3-D vector) of the smoke and fire particles before the force is applied

[0013] ExtAV is the velocity (3-D vector) of extinguishing agent particles

[0014] R is the radial distance between the smoke and fire particles and the extinguishing agent particles

[0015] K is a factor that can be adjusted (from a nominal value of 1) for:

[0016] Desired friction of the particle interactions

[0017] The time in between simulation updates (will be referred to as .DELTA.t)

[0018] Mass of the smoke, fire, and extinguishing agent particles

[0019] Or other particular simulation characteristics where a value of 1 produces unrealistic results

[0020] A force on the fire and smoke particles can be calculated based on the change in velocity: 2 F = ( PV out - PV in ) ( Mass ) t

[0021] where:

[0022] F is the actual force (3-D vector) to be applied to the smoke and fire particles

[0023] Mass is the mass of the fire or smoke particles

[0024] .DELTA.t is the time in between simulation updates

[0025] Taking the above two equations, substituting and simplifying, the equation for the calculated force could be: 3 F = ( ExtAV - PV In 1 + R ) * K * Mass t

[0026] Other versions of this equation are envisioned, but they are expected to be of a similar nature, with the same inputs as this equation.

[0027] The application of the calculated force simulates the visual effect of the extinguishing agent stream causing airflow that alters the motion of fire and smoke particles. Additionally, the calculations can be applied to smoke or other particles that are not part of a fire and smoke plume, such as extinguishing agent passing through ambient steam or ambient smoke particles in a room. The invention extends to other aerosols, gases, and particulate matter, such as dust, chemical smoke, and fumes.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 2, a side view of the preferred embodiment, a further refinement for determining a force to apply to particles in the fire and smoke plume 3 would entail modeling extinguishing agent 1 in cones 1a, 1b, and 1c (which are affected by gravity and will droop) from the nozzle 2, where the multiple additional concentric cones 1b and 1c to apply varying force. One embodiment that can produce the cones 1a, 1b, and 1c can be a system of rings (the system of rings may be modeled as a particle system) emitted from the nozzle, which, when connected, form cones 1a, 1b, and 1c. Those fire and smoke particles 3a which are contained mostly inside the inner cone 1a of the extinguishing agent 1 can have one level of force applied, and fire and smoke particles 3a which are not contained within cone 1a, but are contained within cones 1b or 1c can have a different, often smaller, force applied to them. Thus, multiple levels of velocity from extinguishing agent and air entrainment can be easily simulated to apply multiple levels of force to the fire and smoke. The additional cones 1b and 1c (or more if additional levels of force are desired) do not have to be drawn in the simulation, as they could be used strictly in determining the force to apply to the fire and smoke.

[0029] In the case of modeling the extinguishing agent as concentric cones outlined above, the force applied to a particle can be modeled as: (A) the extinguishing agent cone(s) 1a, 1b, 1c each having a velocity associated with them, (B) a difference in velocity between a particle 3a and the extinguishing agent cone(s) 1a, 1b, 1c can be calculated, (C) a force can be calculated that scales with that difference, and (D) the particles 3a will accelerate based on the force calculated, approaching the velocity of the extinguishing agent inside of the cone(s) 1a, 1b, 1c.

[0030] The results of the simulated effects described above can be observed by drawing particles as computer-generated graphics primitives using real-time graphics software and hardware. The invention is applicable to such areas as training simulations and computer games.

[0031] Although specific features of the invention are shown in the drawing and not others, this is for convenience only, as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the invention.

[0032] Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art are within the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of calculating in real-time a force to apply to components in a computer simulation to simulate the effects that an extinguishing agent stream has on the airflow in the vicinity of the stream.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the said simulation components are selected from the group of simulations consisting of fire plumes, smoke plumes, ambient steam, ambient smoke, fumes, other aerosols, gases, and particulate matter.

3. The method of claim 1 where the said computer simulation components are particle systems.

4. The method of claim 1 where a particle system is used to simulate the extinguishing agent.

5. The method of claim 1 where multiple layers of cones of extinguishing agent are used to simulate multiple levels of force to apply to the simulation components.

6. The method of claim 5 where the applied force varies from cone layer to cone layer in order to accelerate the components of the simulation towards the velocity of the extinguishing agent stream in the cone layer.

7. The method of claim 4 where the extinguishing agent particle mass, type, particle velocity, and distance from extinguishing agent particles to other particles are used to determine a force to apply to simulation components.

8. The method of claim 1 where the results of the calculations are used to graphically simulate the effects of the extinguishing agent stream on the components of the simulation.